Trappers turn to fireworks to catch shark in Brevard pond

4-foot fish spotted at Gleason Park in Indian Harbour Beach

INDIAN HARBOUR BEACH, Fla. - Trappers trying to snare a shark found in an Indian Harbour Beach pond shifted strategies on Wednesday after fireworks failed to net the big fish.

About noon, the trappers tossed two bird-control firecrackers into the 5-acre pond at Gleason Park from their rowboat. After the second explosion, pier spectators saw the shark surface, said Melbourne wildlife trapper James Dean.

Trappers hope the firecrackers herd the shark toward a culvert at the southwestern corner of the pond. The pipe leads to a smaller, shallower pond.

About 1:40 p.m., the trappers re-entered the pond and extended a net from the western shore to the pier.

Indian Harbour Beach City Manager Mark Ryan estimated that the shark measures up to 4 feet long.

It's not known how the fish, believed to be a bull shark, got into the pond. Bull sharks can live in freshwater.

Dozens of spectators were gawking, and television news vans were parked on the grass.